Time Travel with the 3rd generation (Rewrite)
by ScarletShadow011
Summary: The next generation are sent back in time after an incident which involved James Sirius Potter, a time-turner and a jar of pixie dust. After they arrive in the future a few books appear and Dumbledore decides to read them to the whole of Hogwarts.
1. The time turner

Time travel with the 3rd generation

James Sirius Potter was sitting on the edge of a squashy couch fiddling with something in his hand. James had somehow managed to acquire a shimmering gold time turner. He stared intentley at the time turner thinking. Bang! James's head shot up whilst he shoved the time turner behind his back. Just then a young redhead wandered in. ' Hi James ' the small girl said cheerfully. ' Hi Lils ' James replied trying not to look suspisious whilst he fingered the time turner. 'Whats behind your back?' asked a curious lily luna Potter. 'Okay i'll tell you, I found this in dad's study' he told her, taking the time turner from behind his back. 'Wow' ,Lily gazed intentley at it her eyes full of wonder.

James was about to open his mouth when his cousins came through the door. Rose and Hugo Weasley walked over to them and spotted the time turner. Rose gasped, 'Where did you get that? 'she asked. James had just finished explaning about where he got the time turner when his younger brother Albus Severus Potter came running through the door and (not looking where he was going) bumped into james who tumbled backwards and smashed a jar of pixie dust which had previousley been perched behind him on a small round table...

JAMES - AGE 15  
ALBUS - AGE 14  
LILY - AGE 12  
ROSE - AGE 14  
HUGO AGE 12


	2. We're in the past!

SMASH!

The time turner collided with the pixie dust, which was all over the floor, and smashed into pieces. Slowly the room stared to be by darkness. the kids heads were spinning and after a few seconds they dissapeared into the darkness...

James opend his eyes wearily and took in his new surroundings. He recognised this place as the great hall from hogwarts school of witch craft and wizardry and suddenly realised that quite a few eyes were on him. He suddenly felt wide awake and stood up slowley, looking around. He took in the people staring at him before realising that the hall looked different. There at the gryffindore table was a clone of his father, Harry Potter (head auror and boy who lived.) Next to his young father was James's uncle Ron Weasley. Next to his uncle was Hermione Granger/Weasely who looked as confused as everyone in the hall.

A noise from behind him made him turn around. His siblings and cousins were slowley waking up. Once they had fully woken up and taken in there new surroundings they turned on James. Rose being the smartest out of them realised what had happened immedietly and had no trouble confronting James.

'JAMES YOU IDIOT, YOU'VE SENT US TO THE PAST!' she screamed at him. 'Why are you blaming me it was his foult', James pointed accusingley to his confused younger brother, 'He ran into me' He finished, looking pleased for himself, because he (for once) was not the one in trouble.

'He Hem' Everyones heads turned, in the direction of the noise. There sitting at the teachers table was a round, toad like Woman who was dressed in the brightest hot pink colour. James recognised the face of this unpleasent woman from a picture in an old daily prophet. He also remembered overhearing his parents and his aunt and uncle discussing her and from what he heard they didn't seem to like her.

'Who are you and what are you doing here' came the sickly sweat voice of Umbridge.

'We're from the future' said Rose innocentley also recognising the woman. ' Way to break it to them Rosie' came the voice of Hugo from underneath the pile of children (He had unfortunately ended up at the bottom of the pile.) 'What do you mean your from the future?' asked Hermione. 'Be quiet Miss Granger' said umbridge scornfully, 'They are quite clearly lying' she continued. The future kids caught each others eyes and looked away hurridly.

'Do you have any proof you are who you say you are?' a kind and gentle male voice spoke up from the teachers table. The children looked up and saw someone who they had only ever heard of. Proffesor Dumbledore.

The future children looked at eachother uncertainly.


	3. The Potters

Disclaimer - I don't own anything :( all credit to J.K. Rowling

'Can you tell us your full names and your age and your house and who your parents are?' Dumbledore continued. 'Of course proffesor' said Rose who was still awestruck from seeing the 'greatest wizard of all time' who was dead in their time.

James pushed to the front of the group and spoke up. 'I'm James Sirius Potter and i'm 15 years of age and am the most amazing potter kid in the whole family' he said confidently (secretly he was enjoying the attension of the whole hall.) ' I'm in gryffindor (cue cheers from the gryffindor table) My parents are ... wait for it ... the famous Harry Potter and the one and only Ginerva Weasley' James said dramaticaly. All eyes turned to harry who was still trying to process the information he had just been told. Ginny however was the colour of her hair and was suddenly very intrested in her nails. Romilda Vane and her friends were glaring at the back of Ginnys head jelously.

'Wait a minute, YOU KNOCKED UP OUR LITTLE SISTER.' The Weasley brothers shouted at Harry, who sunk into his seat, feeling the weasleys glares on the back of his head.

Albus ,scencing an argument, made his way to the front. Everyone stared at him. He was an exact copy of Harry. My name is Albus (severus he mumbled quietly) Potter, im the second eldest child of Ginny and Harry. I am unfortunatley related to this idiot (he pointed to James who was currently looking at his reflection in a pocket mirror) I am also in gryffindor and I am the quidditch team seeker. I'm 14 and I solemly swear that I'm up to no good' He finished. James was quick to point out he was a maurader too.

'Next up our tiny little sister' James said as Lily hit him upside the head. ' My name is Lily Luna Potter, I am a gryffindor, i'm 12 and i'm the only smart one in the family (excluding Rose) And my parents are Harry and Ginny' she finished taking a deep breath. Everyone in the hall was amazed that a girl that small could say all that without taking a breath in the middle

Next intro's are the weasleys


	4. Two weasleys and a Malfoy

Disclaimer - I don't own anything - all credit to J.K. Rowling

-  
(previously) 'Next intro's are the weasleys'  
said James, looking excited.

Ron's head jerked up. Did this mean one of  
his brothers had had children, he wondered.  
He eyed Rose warily, her eyes were  
definitely familiar. Rose was now at the  
front. 'My name is Rose Weasley' she  
started. 'I'm in Gryffindor, I'm 14 and my  
parents are Ron weasley (Ron nearly  
fainted) and Hermione Granger' She  
finished. (Hermione looked like she was  
about to have a heart attack.)

Hugo shoved past his cousins to get to the  
front. 'My name is Hugo weasley, I'm the  
youngest child of Hermione and Ron,  
(another weasley, just what we need  
whispered Draco Malfoy to Astoria  
Greengrass, who promptly slapped him  
across the cheek,) 'I'm also a gryffindor.  
Hugo said.

Suddenly there was a blinding blue light and  
there was a slender boy with sleek blond  
hair, cold blue/grey eyes, a pale complexion  
and pointed features.

Rose ran up to him and hugged him arround  
the neck. The boy hugged her back before  
looking around carefully. 'So this is what  
happened to you.' he stated. 'your parents  
are worried sick. Ron who was looking  
between Rose and the young boy, looking  
horrified, the boy was a spitting image of  
Draco Malfoy (who was sat straight in his  
seat, nursing his cheek that Astoria had  
slapped.)

'Who are you' He asked quite forcefully, his  
overprotective dad instincts kicked in. The  
boy looked at the other children and then  
walked to the front.

'My name is Scorpius Malfoy, I'm in  
Slytherin, i'm 14 and my parents are Draco  
Malfoy and Astoria Malfoy/ née Greengrass.  
... There was silence. Malfoy was  
staring incredulously at Astoria, who was  
glaring at him intensely and looking slightly  
ill. (AN they hate each other at the moment.)

James started nudging him and looking  
towards Rose. Scorpius sighed and added 'I  
am also dating Rose Weasley'. Once again  
there was silence. Ron broke it by standing  
up and yelling, 'WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY  
THAT?'. Scorpius looked slightly fearful,  
whilst James laughed before saying, 'Thats  
exactly what he said when I told him.'  
James stopped noticing his mistake. 'You  
were the one that told him!' Rose shouted,  
looking ready to kill someone.  
'Whoops' James muttered to himself.

Lily jumped. All eyes turned to her. She  
fearfully put her hand in her pocket and  
pulled out a glowing galleon. The DA  
gasped, recognising it instantly as their way  
of communication.

The future children stared at it, there hearts  
sinking. 'Answer it' Rose said sighing.  
Lily did as she was told and almost instantly  
a voice started shouting at them.

' LILY LUNA POTTER! ' Came the voice of  
Ginny Weasley. The hall winced, It was very  
loud. 'WHERE ARE YOU, AND ARE THE  
OTHERS WITH YOU'. 'Hi mum' Lily said  
carefully, 'Everyone's here and so is  
Scorpius'. 'WHERE ARE YOU LILY!' Lily  
looked helpless before she replied, 'you  
won't belive us' she said. 'Try me' Ginny  
said.

The kids looked at each other before James  
replied, feeling sorry for his sister, 'We had  
an accident with a time turner and some  
pixie dust' James said looking very guilty.  
'James are you in the past?' came a calm  
voice, everyone recognised as Harry's. 'Yes'  
Albus said giving in. 'We are in Hogwarts  
and we're in your 5th year. Future Harry  
sighed before saying, 'You'll have to stay at  
Hogwarts while we try to fix this, I'll also  
have the honor of telling your parents where  
you are.

The coin stopped buzzing and went back to  
looking like an ordinary coin.

The students and teachers around them  
exchanged knowing looks. Dumbledore  
stood up and opened his mouth.


	5. The books

I'm back : )

I still don't own anything

* * *

(Previously)

Dumbledore stood up and opened his mouth...

When three thick books fell from the ceiling. They landed with a thump! in the middle of the gryffindors table. The DA pulled their wands out, closely followed by the teachers.

James edged closer to the books slowly. "Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix, Harry Potter and the half blood prince and Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows," He read out.

The children from the future exchanged confused glances. Their parents hadn't told them much about the war but they had overheard stuff about the order and the Deathly Hallows.

At the teacher's table Umbridge was looking extremely sour, Potter was the centre of attention again, she thought bitterly.

The other teachers were looking slightly alarmed. How could these books know about the order.

The students were just plain confused. It had been a long day, first a group of children appeared from the future and then a bunch of books fell from the sky.

A piece of parchment apperated onto the biggest book. Rose leaned over and began to read the cursive writing on it, out loud.

"These books are full of information about the future which will help to keep everyone in the hall safe. The books are based on Harry Potters life and have his thought and feelings in them. Please read them to the hall and also to the order and the whole weasley family." She finished looking at the note, clearly interested in it.

The hall broke out into chatter. Umbridge was now looking pleased. Now the students would see Potters lies and Potter would stop going on about how you-know-who was back.

Professor Dumbledore stood up and called the hall to order before striding over to the books. He started muttering spells under his breath. After about a minute he stood up.

"These books don't seem to be dangerous so tomorrow all lessons will be canceled and we will read these books."

"James, Albus, Hugo and Scorpius, I'm sure there will be space in the Gryffindor 5th years boys dorm."

Ron's mouth fell open. "We have to share with him!" He pointed to Scorpius, who looked like he was used to Ron's ideas about Malfoys. When know one answered him he started muttering to himself.

"Rose, Lily could you share with the 5th year girls." It wasn't really a question but Rose and Lily definitely didn't mind.

The hall emptied and everyone went to their dorms...

* * *

**I'll update soon.**


	6. Dudley Demented

** Chapter 6 - Dudley Demented**

The next morning everyone gathered in the hall.

Everybody was buzzing with excitement. The future gang had come down to breakfast in their group and were huddled together at the Gryffindor table discussing the books when the huge double doors flew open. In came The order, the Weasleys, The Minister for Magic and his companion Amelia Bones and finally a big black dog, who's tail started wagging when he caught sight of Harry.

"It's the grim!" Trawlaney fell silent after Umbridge shot her a disapproving glare

After the students had finished eating Dumbledore stood up.

"We will start with Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix." He said looking slightly confused at the end of the title.

Heads turned to Harry who sunk in his chair, looking at the ground.

Dumbledore drew the attention off of Harry and began reading,

**The hottest day of the summer so far was drawing to a close and a drowsy silence lay over the large square houses of Privet Drive. Cars that were usually gleaming stood dusty in their drives and lawns that were once emerald green lay parched and yellowing -**

"What happened?" There were whispers around the hall.

******- for the use of hose-pipes had been banned due to drought. **

**Deprived of their usual car washing and lawn-mowing pursuits, the inhabitants of Privet drive had retreated into the shade of their cool houses, windows thrown wide in hope of attempting in a nonexistent breeze. The only person left outdoors was a teenage boy who was lying flat on his back in a flower bed outside number four.**

**He was a skinny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who had the pinched, slightly unhealthy look of someone who had grown a lot in a short space. His jeans were torn and dirty, his T-shirt baggy and faded, the soles of his trainers were peeling away from the uppers.**

"Is that you Harry?" Hermione asked Harry. Harry shrugged. He didn't want any sympathy.

**Harry Potters appearance did not endear him to the neighbours, who were the sort of people who thought scruffiness ought to be punishable by law, but as he had hidden himself behind a large hydrangea bush this evening he was quite invisible to passers-by. In fact, the only way he would be spotted was if his Uncle Vernon or Aunt Petunia stuck their heads out of the living-room window and looked straight down into the flowerbed below.**

**On the whole, Harry thought he was to be congratulated on his idea of hiding here. He was not, perhaps, very comfortable lying on the hot, hard earth but, on the other hand, nobody was glaring at him, grinding their teeth so loudly that he could not hear the news, or shooting nasty questions at him, as had happened every time he had tried sitting down in the living room to watch television with his aunt and uncle.**

Many people frowned.

**Almost as though this thought had fluttered through the open window, Vernon Dursley, Harry's uncle, suddenly spoke.**

**'Glad to see the boy's stopped trying to butt in. Where is he, anyway?'**

**'I don't know,' said Aunt Petunia, unconcerned. 'Not in the house.'**  
**Uncle Vernon grunted.**

**'Watching the news . . .' he said scathingly. 'I'd like to know what he's really up to. As if a normal boy cares what's on the news - 'Dudley hasn't got a clue what's going on; doubt he knows who the Prime Minister is! Anyway, it's not as if there'd be anything about his lot on our news - '**  
**'Vernon, shh!' said Aunt Petunia. The window's open!'**

**'Oh - yes - sorry, dear.'**

**The Dursleys fell silent. Harry listened to a jingle about Fruit 'n' Bran breakfast cereal while he watched Mrs Figg, a batty cat-loving old lady from nearby Wisteria Walk, amble slowly past. She was frowning and muttering to herself. Harry was very pleased he was concealed behind the bush, as Mrs Figg had recently taken to asking him round for tea whenever she met him in the street. She had rounded the corner and vanished from view before Uncle Vernon's voice floated out of the window again.**

"Offering you tea is nice of her." a first year Hufflepuff said.

**'Dudders out for tea?'**

There were snorts all around the hall. "Dudders?"**  
**

**'At the Polkisses',' said Aunt Petunia fondly. 'He's got so many little friends, he's so popular . . .'**  
**Harry suppressed a snort with difficulty. The Dursleys really were astonishingly stupid about their son, Dudley. They had swallowed all his dim-witted lies about having tea with a different member of his gang every night of the summer holidays.**

**Harry knew perfectly well that Dudley had not been to tea anywhere; he and his gang spent every evening vandalizing the play park, smoking on street corners and throwing stones at passing cars and children.**

People began to frown again.

"That's not like Uncle Dudley," Lily whispered to Albus, who nodded in agreement. It was true, Dudley had changed for the better after the war, so the young Potters had never known him any differently.

**Harry had seen them at it during his evening walks around Little Whinging; he had spent most of the holidays wandering the streets, scavenging newspapers from bins along the way.**  
**The opening notes of the music that heralded the seven o'clock news reached Harry's ears and his stomach turned over. Perhaps tonight - after a month of waiting - would be the night.**  
**'Record numbers of stranded holidaymakers fill airports as the Spanish baggage-handlers' strike reaches its second week - **

**'Give 'em a lifelong siesta, I would,' snarled Uncle Vernon over the end of the news readers ****sentence, but no matter: outside in the flowerbed, Harry's stomach seemed to unclench. If anything had happened, it would surely have been the first item on the news; death and destruction were more important than stranded holidaymakers.**

"You'd think that _but_ muggles are stupid _Sooo_." Draco said trailing off. The Slytherins that heard snickered.

"you're one to talk about stupid Malfoy." The hall went quiet. Neville Long-bottom was standing up and glaring over to the Slytherin table. Everyone was shocked. Neville had never stood up to anyone before so this was a surprise to them.

**He let out a long, slow breath and stared up at the brilliant blue sky. Every day this summer had been the same: the tension, the expectation, the temporary relief, and then mounting tension again . . . and always, growing more insistent all the time, the question of why nothing had happened yet.**

**He kept listening, just in case there was some small clue, not recognised for what it really was by the Muggles - an unexplained disappearance, perhaps, or some strange accident . . . but the baggage-handlers' strike was followed by news about the drought in the Southeast ('I hope he's listening next door!' bellowed Uncle Vernon. 'Him with his sprinklers on at three in the morning!'), then a helicopter that had almost crashed in a field in Surrey, then a famous actress's divorce from her famous husband ('As if we're interested in their sordid affairs,' sniffed Aunt Petunia, who had followed the case obsessively in every magazine she could lay her bony hands on).**

"Still the same there then," Snape muttered to himself.

**Harry closed his eyes against the now blazing evening sky as the newsreader said, '- and finally, Bungy the budgie has found a novel way of keeping cool this summer. Bungy, who lives at the Five Feathers in Barnsley, has learned to water ski! Mary Dorkins went to find out more.'**  
**Harry opened his eyes. If they had reached water-skiing budgerigars, there would be nothing else worth hearing. He rolled cautiously on to his front and raised himself on to his knees and elbows, preparing to crawl out from under the window.**  
**He had moved about two inches when several things happened in very quick succession.**

**A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot; a cat streaked out from under a parked car and flew out of sight; a shriek, a bellowed oath and the sound of breaking china came from the Dursleys' living room, and as though this was the signal Harry had been waiting for he jumped to his feet, at the same time pulling from the waistband of his jeans a thin wooden wand as if he were unsheathing a sword **

"What happened" asked a few scared 2nd years.**  
**

**but before he could draw himself up to full height, the top of his head collided with the Dursleys' open window. The resultant crash made Aunt Petunia scream even louder.**

**Harry felt as though his head had been split in two. Eyes streaming, he swayed, trying to focus on the street to spot the source of the noise, but he had barely staggered upright when two large purple hands reached through the open window and closed tightly around his throat.**

**'Put - it - away!' Uncle Vernon snarled into Harry's ear. 'Now! Before - anyone - sees!'**

**'Get - off - me!' Harry gasped. For a few seconds they struggled, Harry pulling at his uncle's sausage-like fingers with his left hand, his right maintaining a firm grip on his raised wand; then, as the pain in the top of Harry's head gave a particularly nasty throb, Uncle Vernon yelped and released Harry as though he had received an electric shock. Some invisible force seemed to have surged through his nephew, making him impossible to hold.**

**Panting, Harry fell forwards over the hydrangea bush, straightened up and stared around. There was no sign of what had caused the loud cracking noise, but there were several faces peering through various nearby windows. Harry stuffed his wand hastily back into his jeans and tried to look innocent.**  
**'Lovely evening!' shouted Uncle Vernon, waving at Mrs Number Seven opposite, who was glaring from behind her net curtains. 'Did you hear that car backfire just now? Gave Petunia and me quite a turn!'**

**He continued to grin in a horrible, manic way until all the curious neighbours had disappeared from their various windows, then the grin became a grimace of rage as he beckoned Harry back towards him.**  
**Harry moved a few steps closer, taking care to stop just short of the point at which Uncle Vernon's outstretched hands could resume their strangling.**

Professor McGonagall glared at Dumbledore. Harry should never have gone to the Dursleys.

**'What the devil do you mean by it, boy?' asked Uncle Vernon in a croaky voice that trembled with fury.**

**'What do I mean by what?' said Harry coldly. He kept looking left and right up the street, still hoping to see the person who had made the cracking noise.**

**'Making a racket like a starting pistol right outside our - '**

"He didn't do it." Hermione glared at the book.

"You do know you're talking to a book, Mum." Rose said in a know it all manner.

**'I didn't make that noise,' said Harry firmly.**  
**Aunt Petunia's thin, horsy face now appeared beside Uncle Vernon's wide, purple one. **

"Charming." Scorpius said sarcastically.

**'Why were you lurking under our window?'**

**'Yes - yes, good point, Petunia! What were you doing under our window, boy?'**

**'Listening to the news,' said Harry in a resigned voice.**  
**His aunt and uncle exchanged looks of outrage.**

**'Listening to the news! Again?'**

"At least he show an interest in it." A Ravenclaw, muggle-born murmured.

**'Well, it changes every day, you see,' said Harry.**

**'Don't you be clever with me, boy! I want to know what you're really up to - and don't give me any more of this listening to the news tosh! You know perfectly well that your lot - '**

"What does he mean by that?" Someone asked indignantly.

"He means witches and wizards." Harry said with distaste.

Suddenly everyone was shouting.

"We're better than them!"

"Who do they think they are?"

When everyone calmed down, Dumbledore continued reading.

**'Careful, Vernon!' breathed Aunt Petunia, and Uncle Vernon lowered his voice so that Harry could barely hear him,' - that your lot don't get on our news!'**

**That's all you know,' said Harry.**

**The Dursleys goggled at him for a few seconds, then Aunt Petunia said, 'You're a nasty little liar. What are all those - ' she, too, lowered her voice so that Harry had to lip-read the next word, ' - owls doing if they're not bringing you news?'**

**'Aha!' said Uncle Vernon in a triumphant whisper. 'Get out of that one, boy! As if we didn't know you get all your news from those pestilential birds!'**

**Harry hesitated for a moment. It cost him something to tell the truth this time, even though his aunt and uncle could not possibly know how bad he felt at admitting it.**

**'The owls . . . aren't bringing me news,' he said tonelessly.**

**'I don't believe it,' said Aunt Petunia at once.**

**'No more do I,' said Uncle Vernon forcefully.**

**'We know you're up to something funny' said Aunt Petunia.**

**'We're not stupid, you know,' said Uncle Vernon.**

"Yes you are!" was heard all around the hall.

**'Well, that's news to me,' said Harry, his temper rising, and before the Dursleys could call him back, he had wheeled about, crossed the front lawn, stepped over the low garden wall and was striding off up the street.**

**He was in trouble now and he knew it. He would have to face his aunt and uncle later and pay the price for his rudeness, but he: did not care very much just at the moment; he had much more pressing matters on his mind.**  
**Harry was sure the cracking noise had been made by someone Apparating or Disapparating. It was exactly the sound Dobby the house-elf made when he vanished into thin air. Was it possible that Dobby was here in Privet Drive? Could Dobby be following him right at this very moment? As this thought occurred he wheeled around and stared back down Privet Drive, but it appeared to be completely deserted and Harry was sure that Dobby did not know how to become invisible.**

"Who's Dobby?" Dean asked curiously.

Harry was about to answer when Draco Malfoy interrupted,

"My old house elf, Dobby?" He asked incredulously.

"Must be, how many other Dobby's are there." Harry replied, smirking at the look on Draco's face.

**He walked on, hardly aware of the route he was taking, for he had pounded these streets so often lately that his feet carried him to his favourite haunts automatically. Every few steps he glanced back over his shoulder. Someone magical had been near him as he lay among Aunt Petunia's dying begonias, he was sure of it. Why hadn't they spoken to him, why hadn't they made contact, why were they hiding now?**

"You shouldn't been out on your own, dear" Mrs Weasley fretted.

At the teachers table, Umbridge rolled her eyes.

To her, all Potter wanted was attention.

**And then, as his feeling of frustration peaked, his certainty leaked away.**  
**Perhaps it hadn't been a magical sound after all. Perhaps he was so desperate for the tiniest sign of contact from the world to which he belonged that he was simply overreacting to perfectly ordinary noises. Could he be sure it hadn't been the sound of something breaking inside a neighbour's house?**

**Harry felt a dull, sinking sensation in his stomach and before he knew it the feeling of hopelessness that had plagued him all summer rolled over him once again.**  
**Tomorrow morning he would be woken by the alarm at five o'clock so he could pay the owl that delivered the Daily Prophet - but was there any point continuing to take it? Harry merely glanced at the front page before throwing it aside these days; when the idiots who ran the paper finally realised that Voldemort was back it would be headline news, and that was the only kind Harry cared about.**

"He isn't back." Fudge said scornfully.

Harry didn't even bother arguing.

**If he was lucky, there would also be owls carrying letters from his best friends Ron and Hermione, though any expectation he'd had that their letters would bring him news had long since been dashed.**  
**We can't say much about you-know-what, obviously . . . We've been told not to say anything important in case our letters go astray . . . We're quite busy but I can't give you details here . . . There's a fair amount going on, we'll tell you everything when we see you . . .**

Ron and Hermione gave Harry looks that quite clearly said "sorry."

**But when were they going to see him? Nobody seemed too bothered with a precise date. Hermione had scribbled I expect we'll be seeing you quite soon inside his birthday card, but how soon was soon? As far as Harry could tell from the vague hints in their letters, Hermione and Ron were in the same place, presumably at Ron's parents' house. He could hardly bear to think of the pair of them having fun at The Burrow when he was stuck in Privet Drive. In fact, he was so angry with them he had thrown away, unopened, the two boxes of Honeydukes chocolates they'd sent him for his birthday. He'd regretted it later, after the wilted salad Aunt Petunia had provided for dinner that night.**  
**And what were Ron and Hermione busy with? Why wasn't he, Harry, busy? Hadn't he proved himself capable of handling much more than them? Had they all forgotten what he had done? Hadn't it been he who had entered that graveyard and watched Cedric being murdered, and been tied to that tombstone and nearly killed?**

"Stop dramatizing Potter." Draco called out to the Gryffindor table.

**Don't think about that, Harry told himself sternly for the hundredth time that summer. It was bad enough that he kept revisiting the graveyard in his nightmares, without dwelling on it in his waking moments too.**  
**He turned a corner into Magnolia Crescent; halfway along he passed the narrow alleyway down the side of a garage where he had first clapped eyes on his godfather. Sirius, at least, seemed to understand how Harry was feeling. **

"Fudge, Amelia Bones, Umbridge and all the students who didn't know about Sirius being innocent, stared at Harry.

"Potter he betrayed your parents." Amelia said.

"So you know were he is then?" Fudge sneered at him.

"Actually Minister, he's in this room." Harry said. "He's also innocent." He finished glaring at Fudge.

Sirius transformed back into human form.

Everyone screamed and few people fainted.

"Minister." Sirius glared at Fudge.

Fudge was reaching before he realised it wasn't in his pocket. He looked up to see James Potter playing catch with it. James felt Fudges gaze on him and looked up for a second, before waving and continuing to play catch. Fudge turned back to the supposed mass murderer.

"Sirius Is innocent!" Harry repeated louder.

Madame Bones turned to Sirius who told her everything that happened on the fateful night Lily and James Potter died.

When Sirius had finished his story, Madame Bones cut in.

"Why didn't you say anything at your trial?"

Sirius suddenly looked indignant.  
"What trial? They never gave me one."

Madame Bones turned to Fudge who looked sheepish. Blacks tale did sound true. If Black was telling the truth he would be in a _lot_ of trouble.

Professor Snape pulled a bottle of Veritaserum from his pocket and handed it to Sirius, who swallowed some.

"Are you innocent?" Fudge asked.

"Yes" Came Sirius's strangled reply.

Everyone gasped. Fudge looked stunned. He was definitely out of a job now.

Sirius recovered and pushed past Fudge to sit with Harry.

**Admittedly, his letters were just as empty of proper news as Ron and Hermione's, but at least they contained words of caution and consolation instead of tantalising hints: I know this must be frustrating for you . . . Keep your nose clean and everything will be OK . . .Be careful and don't do anything rash . . .**

**Well, thought Harry, as he crossed Magnolia Crescent, turned into Magnolia Road and headed towards the darkening play park, he had (by and large) done as Sirius advised. He had at least resisted the temptation to tie his trunk to his broomstick and set off for The Burrow by himself. In fact, Harry thought his behaviour had been very good considering how frustrated and angry he felt at being stuck in Privet Drive so long, reduced to hiding in flowerbeds in the hope of hearing something that might point to what Lord Voldemort was doing. Nevertheless, it was quite galling to be told not to be rash by a man who had served twelve years in the wizard prison, Azkaban, escaped, attempted to commit the murder he had been convicted for in the first place, then gone on the run with a stolen Hippogriff.**

"What Hippogriff?" Hagrid asked confused. The Trio bent their heads down and didn't answer.

**Harry vaulted over the locked park gate and set off across the parched grass. The park was as empty as the surrounding streets. When he reached the swings he sank on to the only one that Dudley and his friends had not yet managed to break, coiled one arm around the chain and stared moodily at the ground. He would not be able to hide in the Dursleys' flowerbed again. Tomorrow, he would have to think of some fresh way of listening to the news. In the meantime, he had nothing to look forward to but another restless, disturbed night, because even when he escaped the nightmares about Cedric he had unsettling dreams about long dark corridors, all finishing in dead ends and locked doors, which he supposed had something to do with the trapped feeling he had when he was awake. Often the old scar on his forehead prickled uncomfortably, but he did not fool himself that Ron or Hermione or Sirius would find that very interesting any more. In the past, his scar hurting had warned that Voldemort was getting stronger again, but now that Voldemort was back they would probably remind him that its regular irritation was only to be expected . . . nothing to worry about . . . old news . . .**

**The injustice of it all welled up inside him so that he wanted to yell with fury. If it hadn't been for him, nobody would even have known Voldemort was back! And. his reward was to be stuck in Little Whinging for four solid weeks, completely cut off from the magical world, reduced to squatting among dying begonias so hat he could hear about water-skiing budgerigars! How could Dumbledore have forgotten him so easily? Why had Ron and Hermione got together without inviting him along, too? How much longer was he supposed to endure Sirius telling him to sit tight and be a good boy; or resist the temptation to write to the stupid Daily Prophet and point out that Voldemort had returned? These curious thoughts whirled around in ****Harry's head, and his insides writhed with anger as a sultry, velvety night fell around him, the air full of the smell of warm, dry grass, and the only sound that of the low grumble of traffic on the road beyond the park railings.**

**He did not know how long he had sat on the swing before the sound of voices interrupted his musings and he looked up. The street lamps from the surrounding roads were casting a misty glow strong enough to silhouette a group of people making their way across the park. One of them was singing a loud, crude song. The others were laughing. A soft ticking noise came from several expensive racing bikes that they were wheeling along.**  
**Harry knew who those people were. The figure in front was unmistakably his cousin, Dudley Dursley wending his way home, accompanied by his faithful gang.**

Harry shook his head, Dudley's gang were idiots.

**Dudley was as vast as ever,**

Fred and George snorted remembering the sweets accident the previous year. No amount of dieting could rescue Dudley now.

** but a year's hard dieting and the discovery of a new talent had wrought quite a change in his physique. As Uncle Vernon delightedly told anyone who would listen, Dudley had recently become the Junior Heavyweight Inter-school Boxing Champion of the Southeast. 'The noble sport', as Uncle Vernon called it, had made Dudley even more formidable than he had seemed to Harry in their primary school days when he had served as Dudley's first punchball. **

The DA growled protectively.

**Harry was not remotely afraid of his cousin any more but he still didn't think that Dudley earning to punch harder and more accurately was cause for celebration. Neighbourhood children all around were terrified of him - even more terrified than they were of 'that Potter boy' who, they lad been warned, was a hardened hooligan and attended St Brutus's secure Centre for Incurably Criminal Boys.**

**Harry watched the dark figures crossing the grass and wondered who they had been beating up tonight. Look round, Harry found himself thinking as he watched them. Come on . . . look round . . . I'm sitting here all alone . . . come and have a go . . .**

**If Dudley's friends saw him sitting here, they would be sure to make a beeline for him, and what would Dudley do then? He wouldn't want to lose face in front of the gang, but he'd be terrified of provoking Harry . . . it would be really fun to watch Dudley's dilemma, to taunt him, watch him, with him powerless to respond . . . and if any of the others tried hitting Harry, he was ready - he had his wand. Let them try . . . he'd love to vent some of his frustration on the boys who had once made his life hell.**  
**But they didn't turn around, they didn't see him, they were almost at the railings. Harry mastered the impulse to call after them . . . seeking a fight was not a smart move . . . he must not use magic he would be risking expulsion again.**

Mrs Weasley, Hermione and Rose nodded approvingly.

**The voices of Dudley's gang died away; they were out of sight, heading along Magnolia Road.**  
**There you go, Sirius, Harry thought dully. Nothing rash. Kept my nose clean. Exactly the opposite of what you'd have done.**  
**He got to his feet and stretched. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon seemed to feel that whenever Dudley turned up was the right time to be home, and any time after that was much too late. Uncle Vernon had threatened to lock Harry in the shed if he came home alter Dudley ever again, so, stifling a yawn, and still scowling, Harry set off towards the park gate.**  
**Magnolia Road, like Privet Drive, was full of large, square houses with perfectly manicured lawns, all owned by large, square owners who drove very clean cars similar to Uncle Vernon's. Harry preferred Little Whinging by night, when the curtained windows made patches of jewel-bright colour in the darkness and he ran no danger of hearing disapproving mutters about his 'delinquent' appearance when he passed the householders.**

**He walked quickly, so that halfway along Magnolia Road Dudley's gang came into view again; they were saying their farewells at the entrance to Magnolia Crescent. Harry stepped into the shadow of a large lilac tree and waited.**  
**'. . . squealed like a pig, didn't he?' Malcolm was saying, to guffaws from the others.**

**'Nice right hook, Big D,' said Piers.**

**'Same time tomorrow?' said Dudley.**

**'Round at my place, my parents will be out,' said Gordon.**

**'See you then,' said Dudley.**

**'Bye, Dud!'**

**'See ya, Big D!'**

**Harry waited for the rest of the gang to move on before setting off again. When their voices had faded once more he headed around the corner into Magnolia Crescent and by walking very quickly he soon came within hailing distance of Dudley, who was strolling along at his ease, humming tunelessly.**

**'Hey, Big D!'**  
**Dudley turned.**

**'Oh,' he grunted. 'It's you.'**

**'How long have you been "Big D" then?' said Harry.**

**'Shut it,' snarled Dudley, turning away.**

**'Cool name,' said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside is cousin. 'But you'll always be "Ickle Diddykins" to me.'**

Everyone chuckled at the odd nicknames Dudley was given.

**'I said, SHUT IT!' said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists.**

**'Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?'**

**'Shut your face.'**

**'You don't tell her to shut her face. What about "Popkin" and "Dinky Diddydums", can I use them then?'**

Now everyone was laughing.

**Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to demand all his self-control.**  
**'So who've you been beating up tonight?' Harry asked, his grin fading. 'Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago - '**  
**'He was asking for it,' snarled Dudley.**  
**'Oh yeah?'**  
**'He cheeked me.'**  
**'Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true.'**

**A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had.**  
**They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a short cut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no street lamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other.**

**Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?' Dudley said after a few seconds.**

**'What thing?'**  
**That - that thing you are hiding.'**  
**Harry grinned again.**

**'Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose, if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time.'**  
**Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it.**

**'You're not allowed,' Dudley said at once. 'I know you're not. You'd get expelled from that freak school you go to.'**

"It's not a freak school."

The students jumped at the chance to defend their school.

**'How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?'**

**They haven't,' said Dudley, though he didn't sound completely convinced.**  
**Harry laughed softly.**

**'You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, have you?' Dudley snarled.**

**'Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten year old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?'**

**'He was sixteen, for your information,' snarled Dudley, 'and he was out cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he was twice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thing out -**

**'Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?'**

**'Not this brave at night, are you?' sneered Dudley.**

**'This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes all dark like this.'**

**'I mean when you're in bed!' Dudley snarled.**

**He had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his cousin.**  
**From the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing a strangely triumphant look.**  
**'What d'you mean, I'm not brave when I'm in bed?' said Harry, Completely nonplussed. 'What am I supposed to be frightened of, pillows or something?'**

A few girls giggled over at the Ravenclaw table. Harry blushed. Ginny was secretly quite jealous, though nobody noticed.

**'I heard you last night,' said Dudley breathlessly. Talking in your sleep. Moaning.'**  
**'What d'you mean?' Harry said again, but there was a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams.**  
**Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter, then adopted a high-pitched whimpering voice.**

**"Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!" Who's Cedric - your boyfriend?'**

Everyone bowed their heads in respect for the hufflepuff.

**'I - you're lying,' said Harry automatically. But his mouth had gone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying - how else would he know about Cedric?**  
**"Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo hoo!'' '**

**'Shut up,' said Harry quietly. 'Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!'**

**'Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killed Cedric! Dad, help me! He's going to - " Don't you point that thing at me!'**  
**Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred of Dudley pounding in his veins - what wouldn't he give to strike now, to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers . . .**

**'Don't ever talk about that again,' Harry snarled. 'D'you understand me?'**

**'Point that thing somewhere else!'**

**'I said, do you understand me?'**

**'Point it somewhere else!'**

**'DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?'**

**'GET THAT THING AWAY FROM - '**

**Dudley gave an odd. shuddering gasp, as though he had been doused in icy water.**  
**Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo sky was suddenly pitch black and light less - the stars, the moon, the misty street lamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distant rumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy evening was suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded by total, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand had dropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding them.**  
**For a split second Harry thought he had done magic without meaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as he could - then his reason caught up with his senses - he didn't have the power to turn off the stars. He turned his head this way and that, trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like a weightless veil.**  
**Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear.**

A few first years looked slightly frightened.

**'W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!'**

**'I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!'**

**'I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I - '**

**'I said shut up!'**  
**Harry stood stock still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense he was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his arms and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up - he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing.**  
**It was impossible . . . they couldn't be here . . . not in Little Whinging . . . he strained his ears . . . he would hear them before he saw them . . .**

**'I'll t-tell Dad!' Dudley whimpered. 'W-where are you? What are you d-do-?'**

**'Will you shut up?' Harry hissed, 'I'm trying to lis- '**  
**But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading.**  
**There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air.**

**'C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!'**

**'Dudley, shut - '**  
**WHAM.**  
**A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting him off his feet. Small white lights popped in front of his eyes. For the second time in an hour Harry felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; next moment, he had landed hard on the ground and his wand had flown out of his hand.**

**'You moron, Dudley!' Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain as he scrambled to his hands and knees, feeling around frantically n the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling.**

**'DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT AT IT!'**  
**There was a horrible squealing yell and Dudley's footsteps topped. At the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one.**

**'DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!' Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. 'Where's - wand - come on - lumos!'**  
**He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him n his search - and to his disbelieving relief, light flared inches from his right hand - the wand tip had ignited. Harry snatched it up, scrambled to his feet and turned around.**  
**His stomach turned over.**

**A towering, hooded figure was gliding smoothly towards him, hovering over the ground, no feet or face visible beneath its robes, sucking on the night as it came.**  
**Stumbling backwards, Harry raised his wand.**

Now everyone was slightly scared. Most for Harry's safety but quite a few Slytherins and Umbridge certainly weren't.

**'Expecto patronum!'**  
**A silvery wisp of vapour shot from the tip of the wand and the Dementor slowed, but the spell hadn't worked properly; tripping over his own feet, Harry retreated further as the Dementor bore down upon him, panic fogging his brain - concentrate -**  
**A pair of grey, slimy, scabbed hands slid from inside the Dementor's robes, reaching for him. A rushing noise filled Harry's ears.**

"You can cast a patronus?" Astoria Greengrass asked.

Harry just nodded as Dumbledore continued.

**'Expecto patronum!'**  
**His voice sounded dim and distant. Another wisp of silver smoke, feebler than the last, drifted from the wand - he couldn't do it any more, he couldn't work the spell.**

**There was laughter inside his own head, shrill, high-pitched laughter . . . he could smell the Dementor's putrid, death-cold breath filling his own lungs, drowning him - think . . . something happy . . .**

The older students, who had been around in Harry's third year, started shivering, remembering the Dementors.

**But there was no happiness in him . . . the Dementor's icy fingers were closing on his throat - the high-patched laughter was growing louder and louder, and a voice spoke inside his head: 'Bow to death, Harry . . . it might even be painless . . . I would not know . . . I have never died He was never going to see Ron and Hermione again -**

**And their faces burst clearly into his mind as he fought for breath.**

**'EXPECTO PATRONUM!'**  
**An enormous silver stag erupted from the tip of Harry's wand; it's antlers caught the Dementor in the place where the heart should have been; it was thrown backwards, weightless as darkness, and as the stag charged, the Dementor swooped away, bat-like and defeated.**

"You can cast a _full_ one?" Daphne Greengrass, Astoria's sister, questioned looking slightly immpressed.

**'THIS WAY!' Harry shouted at the stag. Wheeling around, he sprinted down the alleyway, holding the lit wand aloft.**

**'DUDLEY? DUDLEY!'**  
**He had run barely a dozen steps when he reached them: Dudley was curled up on the ground, his arms clamped over his face. A second Dementor was crouching low over him, gripping his wrists in its slimy hands, prising them slowly, almost lovingly apart, lowering its hooded head towards Dudley's face as though about to kiss him.**

**'GET IT!' Harry bellowed, and with a rushing, roaring sound, the silver stag he had conjured came galloping past him. The Dementor's eyeless face was barely an inch from Dudley's when the silver antlers caught it; the thing was thrown up into the air and, like its fellow, it soared away and was absorbed into the darkness; the stag cantered to the end of the alleyway and dissolved into silver mist.**

**Moon, stars and streetlamps burst back into life. A warm breeze swept the alleyway. Trees rustled in neighbouring gardens and the mundane rumble of cars in Magnolia Crescent filled the air again.**

**Harry stood quite still, all his senses vibrating, taking in the abrupt return to normality. After a moment, he became aware that his T-shirt was sticking to him; he was drenched in sweat.**

**He could not believe what had just happened. Dementors here, in Little Whinging.**

**Dudley lay curled up on the ground, whimpering and shaking.**  
**Harry bent down to see whether he was in a fit state to stand up, but then he heard loud, running footsteps behind him. Instinctively raising his wand again, he span on his heel to face the newcomer.**

**Mrs Figg, their batty old neighbour, came panting into sight. Her grizzled grey hair was escaping from its hairnet, a clanking String shopping bag was swinging from her wrist and her feet were halfway out of her tartan carpet slippers. Harry made to stow his wand hurriedly out of sight, but -**  
**'Don't put it away, idiot boy!' she shrieked. 'What if there are more of them around? Oh, I'm going to kill Mundungus Fletcher!'**

Gred and Forge were looking excited. One of their idol's had been mentioned.

Dumbledore stood up and addressed the whole hall,

"Does anyone want to read the next chapter?" He asked with a twinkle in his eye.

* * *

So that was Dudley Demented, took me ages to go through it all.

Hope you enjoyed it,

I'll be updating soon :-)


End file.
